"Go Outside"

self-released

Artists:

There's more information on the wrapper of a candy bar than there is on the Internet about Cults. The band's got an un-Googleable name and no MySpace page in sight. They do, however, have a sparse Bandcamp page, where their first 7" is listed for release on December 23, 2012. We have discovered that they are a boy/girl duo, that they live in New York, and that they are both film students. And we know that they have a killer song on that 7" called "Go Outside".

The song's opening suggests that Cults have a slightly sinister sense of humor. Where the title suggests fresh air and a proactive trip into the sunshine, we first hear a quote from the ultimate cult leader, Jonestown figurehead Jim Jones: "To me, death is not a fearful thing. It's living that's treacherous." What follows, though, is pure butter: "Go Outside" has the innocent and balmy feel that brings to mind Swedish indie pop, with a tinkling glockenspiel cutting through humidity, an appealingly lazy bassline, and joyous sing-along vocals. But for all its simplicity, there's some deep feeling coarsing through "Go Outside", and Cults transcend the song's Free Design-inspired 1960s pop origins. "You really want to hole up/ You really want to stay inside and sleep the light away," the song chides, surrounding the voices in enveloping reverb, before following with, "I know what's good/ Exactly 'cause I have been there before." And then it takes you there.